


Alone Together

by lyvneato



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Reylo - Freeform, Snowshoes, i forgot about the planet blowing up, so lets pretend it doesn't and they have to share a cave, wickedlywonderfulweekofreylo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-12 19:56:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7120288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyvneato/pseuds/lyvneato
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mondays prompt for Reylo Fanfic Week: Snowshoes.<br/>A bit of rewrite, rey and kylo weather the storm in a cave together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alone Together

A deep vibration runs up her arm before settling somewhere in her heart as a fiery blue light connects with the skin on his face, searring it with a quick sizzle. Rey finds her self in motion, but not quite her own. This whole fight had been an energy inside her pulling the strings. Her legs had moved in just the right way, at just the right time. Her arms knew where to strike, when to block, all without second thought or input from her. Something moves her towards her enemy, urging her to take the final blow and end this. Muscles lock up, aching to spill blood futhermore, yet her saber is still, paused in the frosty air, raised and ready. Moments pass like centuries between the two, while minuscule clouds escape both their lungs before dissipating into the frigid night air. Less than a minute before, Rey wondered if she could keep up with Kylo Ren’s skill. Now, she felt like a predator waiting to strike its prey. At this moment she was not herself, instead the scene played out as if she was looking over her own shoulder. 

Sputtering, Kylo laid back in a thick, freezing layer of snow, but the cold atmosphere burned against his skin. He knew the gash must have been bad from the moment the searing pain of her saber bit into his flesh like a hungry animal. Wounds from all over his body screamed to be acknowledged while he felt a sickening sweet ache throb in his teeth. Waves of darkness crashed over his consciousness and eyes. Kylo continues to force short breathes as his lungs fight for their breathing rights. He gasps for air, only to be met with a smoldering in response. He’s brought back from pain for but a moment as trembles erupt from under his back.

Snapped out of her trance, Rey’s honey eyes widen with realization. As the earth begins to shake her to the core, she stumbles backwards. Desperately, she gets away from her rival and the potential event that hung in the air. As the earth gave way, Rey watched as Kylo struggled to sit up. He held a hand onto his wound, struggling to look at her. She met dark his eyes, and he looked at her almost with awe. Rey gave him only a mixed expession of confusion and worry before turning to run. Through blurred vision, Kylo sees Rey standing on the other side of the crack the earth had created. His mind tries to make sense of the events that happened, playing the moment when he was closest to her in particular. The look she gave him now reminded him of the confusion she had given him to his offer not long ago although then it had been twirled with determination against him. All he could feel now was pain and wonderment, for this scavenger girl had gifted him both with her touch and starry gaze. He watched as Rey took off into the woods. Something in his chest twisted, an emotion he had not felt since he met her, reappeared. He had been unable to process it when they first met, but now he understood what the emotion was.  _Longing_. 

His hand pressed harder on his shoulder wound, and he noticed his blood was the only thing warm around him. Kylo sincerely wondered how he would make it out of this situation, eyes darting around for any idea on how he wold get out of this situation. Struggling, he tried to stand. Reaching out mentally, he forces the blood pouring from him back into his body, pressing harder on his shoulder. Kylo finally finds himself on two legs again after letting out a determined low growl. Cold air cuts through him as he starts his walk in the opposite direction of where the scavenger had ran away. 

Feet flying and breath hitching, Rey moves as quickly as possible to get back to Finn. Jumping over now fallen trees from her and Kylos fight, Rey sees a dark figure contrasting the snow in the distance. Eyes locking on him, she goes directly towards him. The sound of wind and blood pumping fill her ears before a scream does. Reys eyes dart from Finn to the source of the noise. Running towards Finn from the other side she sees resistance fighters. Confused she slowed as they desperately try to tell her something. Her muscles locked up to halt her advancement to Finn as she caught one of their words. 

“Stop!” Echoed in the wind, and Rey tried to catch her balance in time.

Feet kicking back and eventually knocking herself away from them into the freezing snow, she peered as rocks gave way over the edge of a crevice much like the one she had just come from. Snapping her eyes up, Rey saw as three rebel fighters seemed to let out a breath of relief for her sake. Getting to her feet while snow melted against her adrenaline heated body, she assessed the gap between her and Finn. Her heart told her to make the jump to him anyways, but she knew it was much too far. Now all she could do is watch as the team across the way went to work. Two helped carry Finn as the other one yelled to Rey. 

"Are you okay?“ They asked, all she could do is nod in response as her own words struggled to resurface.  

"We need to get Finn to care urgently, but we will come back for you!” They continued. Rey shook her head and swallowed the lump in her throat before speaking. 

“No, I’ll find a way over, just worry about helping Finn!” She almost cried out as her heart stung with fear. The fighter seemed to think for just a moment before taking the pack off their back quickly. 

“Here, take this at least! Be safe!” They tossed the pack to her as best as possible, she caught it just barely.

Her hand hung over the crevice as the tips of her fingers barely clutched onto the pack. It took effort as she forced her fingers to strengthen and curl to bring the heavy pack towards her. For a moment the remnants of the feeling the battle gave her tingled down her arm into her finger tips as the small task suddenly became easier. She turned her attention to the fighters and watched as the last fighter turned quickly to catch up with the others and Finn. Rey pulled the pack close to her chest, eyes still on Finn as he got further away.

"Please be okay…“ She desperately whispered to any unseen force for aid as a knot in her heart tightened. Closing her eyes she tried to get a hold of herself. Once she thought she could continue, she opened her eyes against thick flakes of snow stuck to them. Finn and the others were just barely out of sight now before disappearing into the trees. Rey looked down at the pack and slung it across her chest. She had to get moving. Turning, she started moving by the edge of the crater that separated her from her friend. She would make it back to him, Rey promised herself.

Her cheeks felt frozen as harsh wind beat down on them, stinging like needles pricking her skin each time a flake grazed her. Every part of her body shuddered and throbbed. She had never experienced cold like this, even the desert nights of Jakku never felt like this. In fact, every experience since she left Jakku was a whole new playing field. Willing her legs to keep going, she looked around trying to make sense of where she was exactly. A while back she had to retreat back into the forest away from the edge of the cliff because the rocks beneath her feet there kept threatening to present her the void below. Now she was wandering the unfamiliar forest as menacingly tall, snow heavy trees surrounded her like a cage. Blinking, she tried to keep her eyes open even though the cold made it hard to do so for it burned each time she moved her eyelids. Jelly legs kept her going though as she looked for something, anything to help her. 

Ahead she noticed a large, dark shape behind thick trees. Scrambling to get there faster she almost fell many times, grabbing onto trunks for purchase. Large drifts built up barriers to keep her from what lay further, at least she felt as though the entire world was against her reaching this destination in this moment. As she got closer, she noticed that what she was seeing was the mouth of a cave entrance. She did not want to leave the mission of getting to Finn, but now the storm outside was picking up too much for her to keep going. Hopefully this cave would give safety from the storm. 

The snow was up to her ankles now. She cursed herself for not thinking of bringing snowshoes with her, even though she could not have known this would happen besides the fact she had no clue if they would help since all this white stuff was foreign to her. Stumbling into the cave entrance, she squinted to recognize shapes in the dark. Quickly giving up, she unhooked her light saber from her belt and shield her eyes from the sudden, bright glow. She used the blue light for both warmth and to see as she stepped further in. As she got into the cave, the snow receded and turned into dark rock beneath her feet. Reys eyebrow furrowed as she noticed a thick, crimson path leading farther into the cave. Blood? She wondered if a hurt animal was in here, or if this was just a stain from a time passed and her eyes received her of the thickness. Leaning down, her fingers brushed against the trail. The blood was not quite dried nor frozen, and left a light residue on her forefinger. Swallowing, she tried to think of how to proceed. She couldn’t go back out to the open forest, that was a freezing death sentence. The only thing she could think to do is continue on. She held her saber tighter and in a ready stance as she moved on. An energy inside her happily waited to be released again, and it tumbled around her in excitement. 

Darkness surrounded him, but he still struggled to keep his eyes open. Closing them felt like it would be his undoing. Kylo tried to focus on his breath. The sound echoed off the walls in a whisper along with an occasional dripping sound. He kept still, trying not to disturb his wounds too much. Sitting against the cave wall, he willed himself to keep from coming undone. Hope taunted him, dangling over his head calling to reach for it. He knew it would just be yanked from his fingertips the moment he barely got purchase. A cold sweat had broken out in him, and even though the cave was far away from the frigid wind, he still felt a chill gnawing drastically at his bones. Just as he almost gave into letting his eyes rest, Kylo heard a sound from the far side of the cavern he resided in. Footsteps? Perhaps even a slight hum? 

Realizing that familiar sound of a light saber, he reached for his own only to remember that he no longer had it. Inwardly cursing himself, he tried to remain quiet as a dim blue light approached. His breath caught and his heart raced forward as he saw this, was it her? 

Eyes down, she continued forward following the trail. Almost jumping out of her skin as she saw a dark boot, Rey flew into fighting position. Moving the saber quickly to see the rest of the being in front of her she gasped. Eyes barely open, blood smearing his face and most of his body, Kylo Ren sat there gazing up at her as if she had somehow answered and broken his prayers all at once. Dark hair was plastered to his face from sweat and blood, and he looked in a state that she would describe as…melting? His lips parted as his voice creaked out a response to her presence. 

“Tracked me down, huh? Here to finish me off?” He was barely audible, but the sound still reverberated off the cave walls. Rey’s focused on the scene laid out before her, trying to think of what to do. Her heart was racing with poison laced in her blood as she thought of how this man, this broken, bloody mess, had hurt the ones dearest to her. Even though she had not known her new found friends long, they meant the world to her and this he had taken one away and wounded another. Gritting her teeth as tears threatened to form, she spoke to him saber still on the offense.

“For what you’ve done, I should.” She gripped the light saber till she was sure her knuckles had turned white. Letting out a weak laugh that merged with a cough for breath, Kylo nodded at her. 

“You’re right.” The two words shook her with surprise. He was admitting to his defeat? She figured he would fight till the end. Looking her dead in the eye with half open lids, he continued to speak to her. 

“I deserve it. Finish me off.” His words were dry. There was a lack of motivation in them, motivation to live, to fight her.

Rey felt something strange form within her. She knew this feeling from before. When she a clear chance of revenge, the earth had separated the two of them and prevented the action her muscles itched for. She had wanted to kill him, to completely wipe all evidence of him from her mind. Right now there was nothing to stop her from letting go of herself and finishing what was interrupted. Anger rose like a fire up her back. The way he so willingly would let her do it, somehow this made her even more furious. This fury, this anger, it was so inviting. To give in to this emotion though, she knew would have consequences. It was a false solution to her problems. Still, her muscles urged her to follow through with what he proposed. Straining, she lowered her stance. 

“No.” She whispered out, but there was a power in her words. Opening his eyes wider to her response, Kylo stared at her. Now he was the one to be angry. His dark eyebrows creased in displeasure. 

“No?” His voice was laced with irritation. How could she deny him this one last request? How could she deny herself the pleasure of killing of her enemy. Rey looked at him with defiance and repeated herself. Her words were as hard as the stone that surrounded them, protecting from the harsh world outside. Taken back by her strength, Kylo blinked, trying to understand what was happening. 

“I will not kill you, Kylo Ren.” She made the statement, her words etched themselves into the cave walls and the back of Kylos mind. Taking a deep breath, Kylo released it with exasperation. He had no idea what she planned to do now, perhaps leave him here to suffer to his end on his own? Upon first sight of her in the cave, he was filled with  the rushing emotions of surprise, worry, and the edge of hope. Now he felt hollow and tired, his brain struggling to comprehend the situation he was in.

Kneeling down, Rey took off the pack she had gotten from the fighters. Her movements were a but robotic, as a part of her still whined to be fed. Using her saber to shine a light, she rummaged through the goods. Just as she had thought, she found a medpac. She also retrieved a small, electric lamp. Setting the lamp out to light the area instead of her saber, she looked up at Kylo, observing him closer. She had not found a moment to process his features in the fight, but now she saw tired eyes as deep as the abyss she had almost been taken by earlier, and an odd feeling fluttered around her stomach as if she had done a somersault too quickly. She could not identify the sensation, but she definitely felt like she was tumbling through life at the moment, and feared the end would be falling into his intense gaze. He eyed her suspiciously, watching her every move. Reaching back into the medpac, she broke the stare first and took out a tube. Popping the top and glancing at Kylos state, she let out a long awaited sigh.

"You'll have to move your clothing." She whispered out matter of factly as he stared at her as if she spoke a completely different language.

Rolling her eyes she moved forward to remove the cowl he had around his neck. Kylo flinched back, away from her touch, eyes staying closed as he composed himself. She continued anyways after giving him a moment, and moved the damp clothing carefully away from where they clung to hide his wounds. He was much too tired to put up a fight anyways. Once his cowl was out of the way, she worked on removing all clothing on his pale torso. Rey was shocked to see how much blood covered his body. She wondered how he was still breathing while also recalling this was her work. Using alcohol wipes from the medpac to clean up the wounds he had, she carefully went around them at first to clear his skin of drying blood. She warned him that the next part would hurt as she simultaneously and carefully dabbed at the wounds themselves. Gritting his teeth and letting out a low hiss, Kylo took the pain without much complaining. The alcohol burned with a beat, a rhythm of pain he was no stranger to. In this strange situation created in the hidden cave, anything familiar was welcomed, even that of pain. He watched her eyes as she poured the contents of the tube she had onto the wound on his shoulder and neck. He reached over for the clothing she had laid beside him and used it as something to hold onto, nails clawing the thick fabric. He had felt the feeling of synthflesh before, but it never failed to burn as his wounds healed over themselves. Rey finished with the wounds he had on his torso before moving to the gash on his face.

In the low light of the lamp, Kylo watched as Rey continued her previous methods of tending to his wounds. She worked with purpose. There was the look of someone who had experience with this lighting her eyes, yet also shadows of an inner battle washing over her. Kylo knew that look, the one she was pushing to the corner as she gave herself a different job to occupy her tense, yet soft hands. They trailed the curvature of his cheeks thoughtfully, ignoring the staring he could no longer control. Fighting any emotion he felt now was futile, and each feeling was as bloody and raw as his face. He was mesmerized. His mind swam in questions, the subject being the woman, the enemy, before him. He wanted to ask them, to hear her explain to him what was happening, for he feared of never knowing once the moment they created here was thrown to the wind. 

"Why are you doing this?" He asked suddenly, through his teeth, making the words almost hiss out at her.  
Taken back by how his words struck through the silence, Rey stared at him for a moment before going back to work. At first she said nothing. Putting small amounts of synthflesh on the tip of her finger, she was careful to put it on the wound of his face. He winced and spoke again.

"I'm your enemy, and you're..." He thought for a moment, "...helping me?" He spoke with question. He had convinced himself for a long time of the power of revenge, of the satisfaction, yet she did not give in the way he would let himself indulge. Rey sighed as she finished up on his facial wound while precise, cold fingers soothed the fever heat his cheeks radiated. She couldn't understand her own reasoning for this, let alone explain them to him. All she knew, was that if she killed him she wouldn't come back from that. Come back from what, she wasn't sure.

"I just..." She started before letting the words trail off. Sitting down in front of him, she let out an exasperated sigh. She was overwhelmed. The cold from outside had given her a headache, and the stress as well. She couldn't even begin to put much of a thought process into her actions right now. All she knew is that she had saved him, and now both of them were stuck in this cave until the weather cleared up. As the silence went on and the two looked at each other, Kylo was the first to break it. 

"So what now..." His voice was low, careful. Rey shook her head not knowing how to deal with this situation. 

"I guess..." She gave an exasperated shrug, trying to think of an answer. "I guess we wait out the storm." 

Kylo seemed almost satisfied with her answer, giving a slight nod. His wounds had newly formed flesh over them now, but the one on his face still left a trail from Reys light saber, along with a tingle where she had touched him although he chalked it up to the medicines working instead. Something inside him creaked, shuddered when he came in contact with her. It threatened to rip him apart, yet promised it would put him back together. He watched her slow movements, the delicate way she set objects, from the bag she had brought, to the side while searching for an item. Kylo felt as if he were searching her as well, looking for angles. Moving back towards his blood stained clothes he felt them while pondering if he should wear them. The blood held stiffly from being frozen, red crystals forming on top. Kylo shivered as his upper body was met only with the frosty air.

"There's a sleeping bag in the pack." Rey said bluntly. Kylo had no idea why she was sharing this information with him. He knew she would be the one using it. With a huff, and letting her pride go, Rey continued.

"It's too cold not to use it, it's heated so it should keep in warmth all night. And there's enough room for two." She spoke very dryly, only giving information. She did not look at him while she said this, but instead into the darkness of the cave where the lamps light did not reach before continuing to inform.

"The heatpacs will melt your bloody clothes and make you wet again." It was like she was giving him all the details to offer him the chance of decision, of rejection.

"I..." Kylo had no idea why she would suggest this. He figured he would be the one left to freeze before sharing a sleeping bag with her. She got started unpacking it silently before taking off her wet shoes and wrapping her feet with bandages to keep them warm. Her cold toes happily embraced the dry fabric. She handed the rest to Kylo for him to do the same, not looking at his face, rather at the small roll of bandage in his large hands. He speechlessly followed her silent instructions. He watched her as she went on to take off most of her wet clothing, leaving her in an off white, sleeveless top and her tan pants. He remained shirtless and removed any other clothing of bother, he absolutely hated being in wet clothes, as did she. ' _At least we have one thing in common,_ ' he silently thought to himself.

She got into the sleeping bag quickly after turning on the heatpacs, facing away from him. Rey left the zipper open so he could get in. Kylo eyed the invitation wearily, it did not take him long to decide over the cold cave air or the warming pouch. Tiredness hit him like a ton of bricks suddenly, and he crawled carefully over to the opening. His feet slid in first, the tips of his toes accidentally brushing her bare legs. He pulled them back immediately and paused, watching her as her breath hitched for a moment. She said nothing and he decided to slither his way further into the crampt sleeping bag. The lower portion of his body droned on with tingles from the sudden heat source. Finally, he could lock in the heat with the zipper after lethargic attempts at a comfortable position. Rey had given him an annoyed sigh as he moved about. It was a tight fit for his large frame, but he managed. He had his back to her, but he could feel her chilled body against his, and places where her skin touched his and set it on fire. He shuddered once more, this time not from the cold but from the touch of another human being. He couldn't remember a time of recent when he was this close to someone without spilling their blood. It was terrifying, but no other option presented itself. Kylo felt like screaming though he could not understand why. There was an air between the two that was tense, but artificially. It was forced because of who they were. The fabricated feeling was an outer shell to the underneath feeling of what Kylo could only describe as 'rightness'. It was like the world, the problems, should no longer matter since the two were in each others presence, so closely as well. Kylo stared off tiredly. He was too tired to question these events. His eyes were close to shutting when a movement got his attention. He relaxed when he noticed it was only Rey. She reached out of the sleeping bag and switched off the lamp, leaving the two of them in the darkness. Neither said a word as sleep quickly took them in its greedy hands.


End file.
